Why Generic Printer Cartridges are not the same as Generic Drugs

Australian clinics and medical practices are subject to some
of the most complex and stringent regulations, such as the Private Health Facilities Act, and the Private Health Facilities Regulation. It makes sense that there
would be such strict oversight, given that people visiting these facilities are
likely to be doing so because they have health concerns, and are therefore more
susceptible than normal to hazardous substances. To meet those requirements,
and protect the health of patients, administrators and workers within a
clinical environment do have a responsibility to be aware, and careful, about
how the environment is maintained.

As a whole, Australian medical clinics are very good at
meeting their obligations and responsibilities where the health of the patients
are concerned. However, something that a lot of healthcare facilities do overlook
is the toner used in printers, and while this might sound like something small,
the risks are greater than you might assume. If health facilities are using the
wrong toner, that easy-to-overlook printing component could be a bigger
potential hazard than even the drugs administered and prescribed by the clinic.

Generic Drugs vs. Generic Toner; a comparison

Health clinics will often prescribe ‘generic’ drugs for
medicines in which the relevant patents have expired. These drugs will have the
same active ingredient as the commercial, ‘brand name’ version of the drug, but
because these drugs were developed by companies that didn’t invest the R&D
on the medicine, and are often sold without a marketing budget behind them,
they’re typically cheaper.

The reason that health clinics don’t mind prescribing these
is because a generic drug isn’t any more of a risk to the patient. Generic
drugs still need to meet Australia’s extensive standards of quality, safety,
and effectiveness to be sold at all, so there’s no reason for the customer to
spend more on the “brand drug.” Meanwhile, by prescribing something cheaper,
the clinic and pharmacist come out looking good – they’re saving their patient
money.

There are also “generic” – or third party – toners available
on the market for use in printers. These are manufactured to fit into printers
made by another company; for example, a third-party might create a toner for
use in a Brother printer. The appeal of these cartridges can be much the same
as the appeal of generic drugs – they can be cheaper. Unlike the generic drugs,
however, there isn’t the same legal or regulatory oversight in the production
of toner, and this potentially creates significant problems for any clinic that
buys a third-party toner.

The risks, explained

There are two principle risks where third-party toner is concerned. The first is the risk of toner leakage. In a test report produced by Buyers Lab that tested Brother toner against the quality of 10 third-party toners designed to operate on Brother’s platform, there was a substantial trend of toner leakage during use. As the report states:

“At the end of
testing, Brother was the only toner cartridge brand to leave the printer in a
clean condition. Without exception, all third-party brands tested left toner
deposits inside the machine.”

As a secondary risk, many of the third-party toner cartridges printed pages where the toner hadn’t bonded properly with the page, resulting in subsequent smudging. Whereas Brother toner ensured that each page that was produced featured no smudging.

Purely from a commercial perspective, this means that third
party toner supplies are not good value for money. The toner deposits they
leave in machines means that the machine needs to be cleaned more frequently, will
wear to the point of machine itself needing replacement much faster and could
void warranty. Additionally, the average third party toner brand was tested to
only produce 38 per cent of the printed yield of Brother toner cartridges. This
means that third party toners would need to be replaced more frequently, and
there is a greater potential that the clinic will have periods where it’s
unable to print, because it has run out of toner and is waiting for replacement
supplies.

In addition to the challenges posed by the sheer
inefficiency of third-party toner, in an environment in which precision and
detail in records is critical, the propensity for smudging from third party
toner cartridges means that reprints will often become necessary. In an
environment such as a clinic, where patient data security is paramount, this
also has a knock-on effect of requiring the management and destruction of more
pages of paper.

There’s more to it than just the commercial inconvenience
and inefficiency of third-party consumables, though. The big concern for
clinics and healthcare from these poorly-manufactured third party toners is the
potential health risks of the toner itself.

The risks of third-party Toner in Healthcare

Properly used and manufactured, toner is, of course, a very safe material for printing. As long as the toner has bonded properly with the page, so excess particles are not susceptible to being blown off or smudged onto the fingers, there’s no inherent risk in using toner.

However, third-party Toner which leaves deposits in printing machines or do smudge off the page, are a different story. Third-party Toner that has been smudged onto fingers could come into eye contact which might cause eye irritation, and if ingested toner can cause a stomach ache.

In a typical environment these risks are small, and have
minor implications. In an environment such as a clinic, which is meant to be kept
sterile and where heavy printing is common, and many of those in the
environment are suffering health complaints, the risks are greater if there is
a significant amount of loose toner dust in the environment.

This is a risk that the administrators of many medical centres aren’t even aware of, Brother Commercial Manager, Luke Howard, said. “some of the Doctors or Office Administrators at clinics have the perception that generic toners go through the same stringent manufacturing and approval process as first party toners,” he said. “They’re used to expecting safety and reliability from generic drugs, and expect the same to be true in other areas.”

“In order to maintain the health safety standards of a clinical environment, it’s important to purchase genuine consumables from the original manufacturer,” Luke added. “In order for toner to fuse onto the page correctly, the compound of the toner is designed to be fused at the temperatures that is set in a laser printer, this is something that only the manufacturer can properly test during the manufacturing process.”

In addition to the potential health risks of direct contact
with toner, there’s the risk that the poor print quality offered by third party
toner cartridges could lead to mistakes made, as patient information is
incorrectly read. This could, potentially, lead to some significant
consequences for the clinic and its patients.

Brother Toner; putting safety first

Even with the digitisation of patient records, and the
increasing reliance that we have on computers to cover healthcare from end to
end, clinics still need to produce a great deal of printed paper. With an
ever-increasing level of regulatory oversight ensuring that medical clinics are
doing their utmost to protect their patients, it’s more important than ever
that administrators consider the full environment.

As with any chemical, it’s important to operate with toner with
a focus on safety. Making sure that you’ve got consumables such as toner
cartridges manufactured to exacting standards by the same manufacturer as the
printer is important in ensuring that the risk of pollutants entering the
environment in minimised.

For more information on Brother printers, and a comparison between Brother’s toner cartridges and third-party examples, get in touch with our experts. We also provide services to look after your printing needs so you focus on your patients, find out how we can help with our Print Services.